Ban cuts smoke exposure 'by 95%'

Hospitality workers are exposed to 95 per cent less second-hand smoke than before the smoking ban in public places in England and Wales, research has found.

Three months on from the introduction of the ban, non-smoking workers in pubs, bars and restaurants were also found to have four times less cotinine in their saliva than in June.

Cotinine is a by-product of nicotine and an indicator of tobacco smoke exposure.

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Researchers from the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre (TCCC) estimate that on average, employees' exposure to smoke is the equivalent of smoking 44 cigarettes a year compared to 190 before the legislation.

They visited 40 venues and 59 businesses across the country to assess air quality and people's attitudes towards the ban.

In the venues, levels of small particles in the air contained in cigarette smoke dropped from near-hazardous levels in June to levels that are similar to the outside air in August.

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Attitudes towards the smoking ban from business owners were found to be more positive than before the July 1st ban.

'The improvements in air quality and reduction in cotinine levels were even better than we could have imagined,' said Hilary Wareing, co-director of the TCCC.

'This study proves beyond doubt that smokefree workplaces are helping to improve the health of the nation's hospitality workers.'

Commenting on the findings, Elspeth Lee, senior tobacco control manager at Cancer Research UK, said that although it will take some years before cancer reduction rates fall because of the ban, 'the short-term health gains we have seen here are very encouraging'.

'As one of the largest countries in the world to adopt comprehensive smokefree legislation to date, we hope these results will demonstrate to other nations that this legislation is workable and has almost immediate health benefits,' she added.

The results will be presented at the National Cancer Research Institute Conference in Birmingham.

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